Method and means for molding plastic objects



Feb. 24, 1948.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MOLDING PLASTIC OBJECTS 7 a $heetsSheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 1944 6, INVENTO.

W BEBE .glll QUE? ATTORNEY Feb. 24, 1948. c. w. OTIS METHOD AND MEANS FOR MOLDING PLAST IC OBJECTS Filed Aug. 29, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .c I I 8o ,14 5 74 BY I A TEOQNEY C. W. OTIS Feb. 24, 3948.

2,436,597" METHOD AND MEANS FOR MOLDING ILASTIC OBJECTS Filed Aug. 29, 1944 s Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

m W. Of/s B ATTOQNEY Patented Feb. 24, 1948 UNI-TED PATENT" QEFFIC E" METHOUS FOR MOLDING PLASTIC OBJECTS Garlalwi Otis, .Rockville Centre, N. Y., assignor. to.

Homo... Electric. Corporatiom New York,.N..Y..,.a.-. comorationoflNew, York Application August-129, 1944', SeriallNb. 5511643? aclaimsl 1:.

This invention. relates. to: azmethods and: means for molding plastic;objects..

The apparatus andmethodshownandtdescrlbed,

scribed, by whichobjects Witht inserts extending, laterally therefrom can; be: molded; withe a. high.

avoid the customaryv practice of. bobbing.

Other objects of. this invention will in; part be obvious and in part. hereinafter. pointedout-s The invention accordingly; consistsin the. features of construction,. combinations. of. elements, and arrangement of partswhich.willbeexemplie fied in the. constructionhereinafter. described; and of which the scope. of; application will be indicatedin the claims.

In the accompanying drawing-s. in which. is shown one form of'my invention,

1 is a p p anv view ofaj afon relatively positioning a plurality: ofjcapao tor inserts;

Fig. 2 is atop plan. viewof? a. cavity. plate;

Fig. 3 is a top plan View o the; cavityplate mounted on the jig and, with. some capacitor inserts in place;

Fig. l is an enlarged sectional viewtaken substantially along the Knot-4 of -Fig: 3

Fi 5 is an enlarged perspeetive-view:of-' one of the capacitor-inserts;

Fig. 6 is attopplanvlewrof a; loading-raclefor relatively positioning and depositing" on/ one. side of the cavityplate: a. pluralittrofi. pma-iormediresin tablets, hereinafter rot-erred? to as: "preiormstb' Fig; 7 is. an. enlarged perspective view-oi; a preform;

2- showing the preform loading rack. open and? the preforms dropped. in the cavity plate;

Fig. 9-is-al top planzv-iew similar to'Fig. 3-, but with-.a-bottomplate assembly locked to the cavity plato,-,the dot: and dash. lines in said figure indicating the unlocked position: of said.- assembly;

Fig. 10 is anlenlarged sectional view taken sub: stantially; along the line; 10- I ll; of Fig; 9;

Fig. 11 i-s-a fragmentary sectionalviewtaken substantially-along. the; line I I-ltl of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a plan view. of the-faceofithe bottom plate assembly: opp site to i that shown in: Fig. 9;

Fig; l3is a toppla,n view of: a-loadingrack for relatively. positioning;and-depositing preforms on theother sideofthe cavity plate;

Fig; 114is aasectionalview through a molding press; with the cavity plateand bottom plate assembly; together with, capacitor inserts and preforms; disposed {improper position. for. molding; V

Fig. 15:15: a: view similar-to=Fi g. 14 after the molding; operation haswtaken-place; and- Fig. 164s an enlarged. perspective view-of the molded capacitor; .consistingof. a capacitor insert imbedcled-ina. plastic block.

Heretofore ithas been? the practice to make capacitors which" consisted. of. capacitor inserts imbeddedin block: of; plastic with an apparatus in general similar to that disclosed in United states-LettersPatcntzNo. 1,973,117 to HermanL. Sk-lar. Such: apparatus, consisted of upperand lower'molding dies, i each of which the. mold cavities. had beemhobbed.

The apparatus zalsoincluded a supporting and positioning frame which held the inserts inproper predeterminedposition within the molding caviities. In usingathis, apparatus; the upper mold plate hadpreforms placed} in its cavities: the inserts were-placed andv locked in their frame: theinsert framezplacedover the upper mold plate with its preformsy and attached: thereto; another set of preforms placed; in the lower mold plate; theupper. mold. plate and attached frame inverted? and placed over the lower mold plate with itsmold cavities: in. registry with. those inthe lower-plate; andptheneboth plates, locked together and with the" insertzpositioningframe sandwiched therebetweem placed; in amolding. press.

This. apparatus and process had several, difficulties. E'or; one: thing; it; required thev use. of hobbed mold cavities.

Hobbing, as is wel1= known,v is difiicultv and expensive-to carry-outfsinee it requires the use of special hobbing dies, extremely heavy; hobbing presses and: successive re-annealings. of." the dies Sisa sectionala-viemsimilarrtoihig abut tbeing hopped. .Suchoperaticns are customarily carried out by firms specializing in hobbing, who employ workers particularly skilled in said process.

Another difilculty with the former practice was that the die apparatus was heavy, including two die plates and an insert holding frame, all of which had to be lifted up by'an operator and inserted in a molding press.

Consequently. the number of capacitors molded at each operation was quite limited.

Another difiiculty with said practice was that it required many operations to prepare the inserts and preforms for molding. thus further reducing the output of each molding unit.

Another trouble with said practice was the difficulty in obtaining proper disposition of the insort; in the mold cavities. due principally to the fact that the inserts were positioned in a frame while away from the die plates.

In general, I overcome these and other dfiiculies by making one of the die plates, preferably the lower one. in two pieces called. for convenience the cavity plate and the bottom plate. The cavity plate contains a number of through holes. o e open end of each of which is closed off or capped by the bottom plate. The other open end may be capped by the platen of a molding press. This eliminates the upper die plate and thus greatly reduces the weight of the molding dies. The inserts are placed on the cavity plate and the bottom plate subsequently superimposed and locked to the cavity plate, thereby clamping the inserts in position. This eliminates the nece sity of employing an insert holding frame.

The inserts are properly positioned in the molding cavities by a locating device called, for convenience, a jg. Said jig has positioning means which extend into the open ends of the holes in the cavity plate opposite to that capped by the bottom plate. Because of this construction, after the bottom plate has been locked on the cavity plate, the two plates can be lifted as a unit away from the jig. Additional positioning means may be associated with the cavity or bottom plate to aid in initially locating and subsequently maintaining the inserts in their proper places.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, in Fig. 1 I have shown the jig J whichis used to position the capacitor inserts in predetermined relative relationship and in proper position in the mold cavities. on a table l by means of supporting standards l2 and screws l3, comprises a large flat plate M, to which there are secured a plurality of pairs of positioning fingers l6, 18. These fingers may be held on the plate in any suitable manner and in the instant case I have shown them as comprising the opposite flanges of short U-shaped channel sections 20, whose bases are welded to the plate M. The relative position of the several pairs of fingers are governed by considerations which will appear in the following portions of the description, and in general said position conforms to the relative positioning which the several capacitors are desired to occupy after molding. The plate I4 also carries a plurality of, in this case three, upstanding locating pins 22, whose function it is to' insure proper registration between the capacitor insert jig and a. cavity plate 24. i

The molding. die is in two parts; comprising the cavity plate 24 (Fig. 2) and a bottom plate assembly 26 (Fig' 12). r I

The cavity plate 24 includes several elongated bars 28, each having a, pluralityof through holes Said jig, which is detachably mounted 4 30 therein. For convenience, these holes are linearly arranged, although it will be apparent as the description proceeds, that the same is not essential. Said holes have a contour which negatively matches the plan contour of the plastic block in which the capacitor insert is to be imbedded, and in this instance such contour is rectangular, although any suitable contourmight be used. The sides of the holes may have a slight draft (exaggeratedly shown in Fig. 4) to facilitate the removal of the plastic blocks after molding.

Itwill be appreciated that these holes may be formed in the bars in various manners, involving conventional machine shop practice, exclusive of bobbing. Thus, the holes can easily be cut out by contour sawing, drilling and shaping, or milling.

The bottom surface of the bars 28 (as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4) is so fashioned as to provide a flash lip 32 of uniform height all around the edge of each hole 30. In addition, flanges 34 of the same height extend down the length of the bottom face of each bar. On the top surfaces of the bars the holes are likewise provided with flash lips 36, which have aligned tapering grooves 38 cut into opposite lateral sides thereof, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 11. The bottoms of said grooves preferably lie approximately flush with the top surfaces of the bars. The several bars are arranged in closely spaced, parallel relationship, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the ends thereof being secured to opposite bars 40 which form the sides of a frame whose ends are right angled channel irons 42. The ends of the cavity bars 28 which are secured to the sidebars 40 are notched to permit the bottom surfaces of said cavity (as viewed in Figure 4) to project beneath the bottom surface of the frame members 40, 42. Each sidebar 40 is provided with two upstanding pins 44, which are used to register the cavity plate 24 and bottom plate assembly 26. The angle irons 42 have three holes 45 drilled therein to register the cavity plate with the locating pins 22. The upstanding flanges of the channel irons 42 each have two slots 48 provided therein to cooperate with a locking means, later described, for clamping together the cavity plate 24 and bottom plate assembly 26.

The cavity bars 28 are made of steel in order to obtain the hardness, dimensional stability, tensile and compressive strength and toughness essential for a molding die. However; I have greatly lightened the cavity plate 24 by employing a plurality of narrow spaced steel cavity bars instead of a single wide steel plate and by making the side frame bars 40, which are not subjected to the same wear and stresses as the cavity bars 28,-of duraluminum. Such use of two metals havingdifierent coefficients of thermal expansion does not distort the cavity plate in operation since all structural elements subjected to heat and running lengthwise of the plate are made of duraluminum and like elements extending across the plate are made of steel.

The capacitor inserts 50 (Fig. 5), which are used in conjunction with the illustrated apparatus, are ofconventional construction, generally comprising a stack S of interleaved sheets of electrically conductive and electrically non-conductive material, such as metal foil and thin mica plates. The sheets of the stack are held together by clamping strips 52, each of which has secured thereto, as by cars 54, a length of lead wire 56 which is the lateral extension herein. For reference purposes-the length of all parts will be con- 5 sidered; m. be paraileli'tcrthez'wirestandz the: width transverse: thereto; I

The: length: oi. the: stack Si controls: the: spacing between thezpa-i'rs: of fingerslit, I28; Becauseaof this. I- employ, a. plurality} of: capacitor; insertzlls at. least. onezior each Size of: insert: having a::dif-iierentlengthzofi stack. lipreier. to:havethe:fingers spaced apart/Ea distance:such=.that they-W111 snugly accommodate: stacks ofmaximum: tolerance.

1;. alsoprouidet-ae cavity plateizlb iorreaclrsizezof capacitor to he manufactured: and the length of widthofl theholes- 30 is greater than that. ofv the:

stacks, this, difference in width being; controlled by the amount it; is desired to: have; plastimmate rial extend;beyondthe:edgeofithestacls" It may also beznoted'. that the;;lengt-h: of; the holesmayzbe greater them indicated; if: it is desired: to have" more: plastic. materiahbeyondi the: ends of: the" stack '.However;.it. is usuallis, sufiicient to provide holes which are longer than the stack: bat the amount. already indicated. I

Proper registrationlbetween the: pairsof fingers I 6, l 8,- and. the holes 3-! is; insured by; the: locating fingersZZ andaperturesstsl.

The first stepdn the practice of. my invention consists inplacing, thecavity plate 2A om top of the capacitor insent jig J the upstanding. pins 22 being insertedinthg, locatingholes: 46:- to: regiist'er the. fingers: l6; l8iinl th6hl$l 3flf (seee Eig th. The capacitor. inserts fiil-argthen-laidon the: cavity plate 24 in the manner indicated in EigsnZr-andii with. the stacks disposed: between the' fingers i6;

i8 and the lead'wires'dfiinthegrooves 38., Said fingers will-locate the-- capacitor inserts; longitudinally' and the. gram/e538 center said: insertdtransversely: in theholes; 38,. The; lead wires, due to the depth of the grooves 38, v will lie fiat-om top surfaces; of, the: bars 23-. The; stack is suspended beneath the lead;wires;

It will .be; noted; that; theriingers 9.6;, ll8= are: quitehigh andtheir topedgesextend toithe tops ofithe lead wires positionedin the.- cavity plate. Ac;- cordingly,.said=fingers are.prouided withregistered notches 51L (Fig. 1-): to; accommodate: said; lead wires and to further aid in locating the capacitor inserts in; the holes- 38,. These nQtUhBSi are; obviously; in registration withathe-grooves 38.

It will also be; noted thatutherrowssof holes 30 are staggeredsothatithaleadzwires'56 inhonsezaie tive rows will not interferecwithieach other; The bars; are'spaced'close: enough to gethenfbr the lead wires of one; row to extend: approximately up to the stacks-of thecapacitor insertsimthe nexturow (see Fig; .3)

The next stepisztm place. an prefornrtab'letfon topics EaC'hTOfthE capacitori'nserts-whiiethezsame are fixediinv position the: holes 303 of the: cawity' plate..

Preferably; the. liiwen portions or theipreforms are within. the. holes and: the upper portions profitrude therefrom.

Said proforma.asiswellzknowntothepariicoma prise tablets E9 of a non-cured or partialy cured thermosetting: on thermoplastic resin. which is.

shaped to roughly; the dimensions. the space which it is eventually to; occupy: Tihmprefornrs are ordinarily higher? than; required; but of" a slightly smaller overall plancontonr so that they may:befittedlneadilwintozthemeldcavitiese The videdza lcadingrackel. (Fig, 6).

6 tablets may? haremuppen; and: lower. surface conflgunations: roughly; conforming: to the ccnfigura.-- tim-lthey will; assume upon molding. Inthe in: stant casephowever such refined form of tablet isznotizemployed, thezupper and lowersuriaoesoi thepr'eiorms 6! (Fig. 7?) being; plane; although ltt is; to: be: understood that. the: invention is. in nowisetlimiteto the disclosed shape=. The preforms; asindicated above. are; in accordance with i invent-ion; disposed. on: topv of' the: capacitor insertsilli when thealatter are'inthe position indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.

Saidt preforms may he so. placed, manually. Howeyentosimzglifyg theinplacement, I have pro In essence, said racle.comprisesimeansto. relatively position a pluirality: of preformsdn. a pattern; corresponding to that; of: the severahholes: 30;. means to locate said rack: in predetermined; relationship relative to the cavity plate; when; superimposed: thereon, and

meamtosubsequently: release.- all of; the preforms upon; the capaciton inserts, preferably without horizontat movement of theipreiorms.

} More specific al-ly-,, said rack. 52- includes an: up,- penplateefit and lowen plate-6.5... Said plates are heldi together by axplurality. of studs 68: secured tththe: lo-wen plate: and having their shanks ex.- tending throughslotszldinathe upper plate. The studszare headed to. prevent the plates from separatingi This construction. allows-'the-plates 64, 66: toabezrelatively shifted inthe direction of the slots. llhforat distance determined by; the length of saidslotsiandthea, diameters of the'stud shanks.

.Thezupper plateauhasaplurality of apertures 12'? out: therethrou'g-hl. These: apertures are arranged in a patternexactly" the same as that-of the: holes 30;: Said. apertures are slightly larger than .thepreforms' fiil butno-larger than the holes 30;. WHEmthG'JbWQDIat'BS- GAQ de'are in the'relative position indicated in Fig; 6, the lower. plate blocks off: the-bottom of. the aperturesflz and thus permitszatplurality ofr'preforms 5i! =to-beplaced', manually for example in; said-apertures. When. it is v desired to;releaserthese preformsand deposit. the sameinxthe hnleszdilon top of the condenser insertsilh tihET'IQWBI'; platetiifiis shifted'to the right (as; viewed. in: Eig. 6);. This action. lines upwith the apertures; 12* a plurality of: similarly arranged apertures: 14 mesa-id; lower'plate which are of the samesizease-onslightly larger than said apertures 12% construction:- of the plate 66 is simplified by omitting airowv of apertures-14 corresponding to the: extremelleftz-handrow of apertures 12 in the plate Mlinstead; having the left-hand edge of: the: lowen plate. 8.6; disposed slightly to the left of saidaleft-hand: row-or: apertures 12' when the piatesifi h. 66 are: iirtha position shown in Fig; 6, that: is; readyto reneive and hold preforms. In this manner, when the plate 68 is shifted to the right; the-left hand'; edgethereof will clear the mentioned? row off apertures 12, permitt ngpreforms dispbsed. thereim to: drop;.through the devised-25 Itawillibm noted; th'a tithe upperplate 6 8i is considerablywiderth'an: thelower: plate 6.6. In the overhanging portions of the upper plate 64 thus provided; a plurality; of" locating holes 16 are dnilledz. Thesevh'oles arexrelatively disposed in the I same. manner as: the locating. pins M'- on the side "7 I2; then'preforms are inserted in said apertures. Next the device 62 is placed on top of the cavity plate 24 with the pins 44 inserted through the holes 76. Finally, the plate 68 is shifted to the right registering the apertures I2 and I4, and allowing the preforms 60 to drop therethrough and deposit on top of the capacitor inserts 50 IV- ing in the apertures 30. At this moment the 'rela tive position of the various parts described is shown in Fig. 8.. After the preforms are deposited in the foregoing manner, the rack 62 is lifted clear of the cavity plate 24.

Attention is directed to the fact that the upper plate 64 is held stationary during loading of the preforms so that the preforms are not shifted horizontally. I have found that this ives much more satisfactory results in depositing the preforms in the holes 30 than when the lower plate 66 is held stationary and the upper plate shifted.

The next piece of apparatus employed is the bottom plate assembly 26; Said assembly includes a frame which comprises. two longitudinal Duralumin bars I8 on which a p r y elongated steel cross bars 82 are supported in the same relative position as the bars 28 of the cavity plate 24. Each cross bar 82 has a plurality of pairs of nibs 84 arranged in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pairs of grooves 38 on the flash lips 36 of the cavity plate. These nibs are of such configuration that they can fit snugly into said grooves leaving a space between the tip of each nib and bottom of each groove to accommodate a lead wire 56. The dotted squares superimposed upon the bars 82 indicate the positions of the cavities 30 when the cavity plate is mounted on the bottom plate assembly.

The bottom plate assembly is also provided with suitable carrying means which may be in the form of a pair of handles 88 mounted on opposite ends of the longitudinal bars I8.

Further pursuant to the invention, means are provided in conjunction with the bottom plate as- 'sembly 26 to permit locking thereof under pressure to the cavity plate 24. Said locking means, which is duplicated on each ofthe handles 88, comprises a plate 94 captively disposed in the handle 88 in such manner as to slide lengthwise of the bottom plate assembly 26. The plate 94 has twobeveled tongues 96 (Fig. 10) which are designed, upon retraction of the plate 94 into the handle, to enter the slots 48 in the upstanding flanges of the angle irons 42 of the cavity plate 24. The beveled surface of the tongues 96 face away from the bars 28 when the bottom plate assembly 26 and cavity plate 24 are in the assembled relationship soon to be described. Flanges 98 may be formed on the outer ends of the plates94 to facilitate manipulation thereof and tines I are struck from the plate to limit the outward movement thereof.

Any desired surface configuration may be given to the portions of the surfaces of the bars '82 which will be in registration with the through holes 30 in the cavity plate 24. For example, three indentations I02 may. be. formed on the mentioned portions of said bars 82 in order to im part a characteristic configuration to-the corresponding surface of the capacitors. It will-be noted that the bottom plate-assembly is lightened in the same manner as the cavity plate without creating distortion thereof in useand that: the expansion of these two parts under-heat matches, so that registry is maintained.

The bottom plate assembly 26 is following manner: 1 a

used in the .i-ng apertures 46 in the cavity plate 24.

Said assembly is manipulated so that the sure face of the bar 82 having the indentations I02 face downwardly and in this position the assembly is superimposed on the cavity plate 24 while the same is still on top of the capacitor insert jig J and while the capacitor inserts and preforms are located in the holes 30. Registration between the bars 82 and 28is secured by inserting the '10- eating pins 44 in coadjuting apertures I04 in the bottom plate assembly. Now the locking plates 94 are moved towards each other so "as to thrust the tongues 96 through the slots 48 and detachably secure the bottom plate assembly to the cavity plate. The bars 28, 82 occupy such relative positions at this time that they will clamp capacitor inserts 50 therebetween with the preforms caught between the inserts and bars 82, as shown in Fig. 10. As a matter of fact, the pressure exerted upon the inserts and preforms when the bottom plate assembly is locked to the cavity plate may be such that the capacitor inserts are forced downwardly to a slight extent bowing the lead wire upwardly, as also shown in Fig. 10. This pressure is gradually applied as the beveled surface of the tongues 96 ride on the upper edges of the slots '48.

The cavity plate 24 and bottom assembly plate 26 are then lifted together as a unit from the capacitor insert jig, and the unit is turned upsidedown to dispose uppermost what were heretofore the open bottom ends of the holes 30.

At this time, the now upper ends of said holes are unfilled and the next step is to place in such open ends another set of preforms I06 of sub stantially the same shape as the preforms 60. As with the preforms 60, the preforms I06 can be deposited in said other open ends of the holes 30 manually or mechanically. I prefer to accomplish the same mechanically and to this end provide a second loading rack I08. This rack is generally similar to the loading rack 62 shown in Fig. 6 and already described. It differs therefrom basically only in the pattern of the apertures III) in the upper plate H2 and apertures H4 in the lower plate II 6, said pattern corresponding to the reversed pattern of the holes 30 after the cavity plate has been inverted. The rack I08 is used in the same manner as the rack 62 to mutually arrange a plurality of preforms I06 in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the holes 30.

To employ said rack I08, I place a preform I06 in each of the apertures I I0 while the bottoms of said apertures are blocked ed by the lower plate II6. Now the rack I08 is superimposed on the top of the cavity plate 24 (the bottom of said plate as viewed in Fig. 10 but now the top because of inversion of the unit). For purposes of registration, said device I08 carries depending pins I I8 which are adapted to be received in the locat- It will be apparent that when the rack I08 is in position-and the bottom 'plate H6 is shifted, the apertures H0, I I4 will be aligned and the preforms I06-dropped therethrough into proper position ontop of the capacitor inserts 50 in the holes 30. The rack I06 like the rack 62 does .not'shiit the preforms horizontally during loading. v

The molding die is now ready to be inserted in a-molding press. To effect this operation, I lift the unitarily locked cavity plate 24 and bottom plate assembly 26 by the handles 88 and rest the bars I8 onthe lower heated platen I22 of a molding press having an upper heated platen I24 d sease? 9 movable towards and away from. said lower platen. The platens are: set into motion to approach each other. The pressure and heat thus applied plasticize the preforms' 60 I06;- causing the same to flow into and fill up the mold cavities defined by the upper platen I22,-v bars 82 and holes 30. An excess material will flow over the flash lips 32', 36 and betweenv the nibs 84- and grooves 38. Since pressure, and. particularly heat, are applied to the preforms before the mold is fully closed and since excessmaterial is forced out of the cavities, the operation takingplace is classifiedas flash molding. It will be appreciated, however, that other types of molding, for example compressionor powder molding, may also be carried outi in accordance with the foregoing process and with the: use or the apparatus described;

The platens are left in. molding position for. a period of time sufficient-to. set the thermosetting resin customarily" used in. making capacitors of the type described. The platensv are then opened, the molding die abstracted, the bottom plate assembly unlocked and taken: away from the cavity plate, and the molded capacitors stripped from said cavity plate. These capacitors have the appearance shown in Fig. 16. One set of parting lines is visible on each lateral edge. This is the set of inclinedlines I28 formed at the juncture between the nibs 84 and grooves 38. The parting lines at the open ends of the through holes 38 will not be noticed, since they are at the edges of the condenser.

It will be seen that said. apparatus and process represent a marked improvement over that heretofore employed in the molding of plasticarticles with laterally extending inserts. For example, the device which is used to position the inserts is not carried along with the molding dies when the latter are inserted in a molding press, the inserts being held in place at the tim of molding by the two parts of the holding die itself.

It will also be noticed that the insert positioning means herein described and the method of using the same will result ina highly accurate registration of the inserts in the molding cavity, thus obviating the formation of molded pieces in which the edges of inserts lietoo close to the external surface of the molded block.

It will further be appreciated that the molding die prepared in accordance with. my invention is extremely easy to manufacture, since the molding cavity is a through hole in a metal piecehaving at least one of its open ends capped by another metal piece, both of these pieces being susceptible of preparation without the time and expense of the drawn-out hobbing rocess. In the actual apparatus shown, the other end of the through hole is capped by a platen of the press itself, provided that the corresponding surface of the molded piece is flat. This does away with the use of the upper heavy mold die, and appreciably lightens the weight of the mold die apparatus, which must be picked up by an operator and inserted in a molding press.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a method and apparatus for molding plastic articles which achieves the several objects of my invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use,

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying not in a limiting sense.

-Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A process for molding a plastic object having an'insert with lateral extensions projecting from opposite sidesof the object comprising disposing the bottom surface" of a. cavity plate having a through'hole on: a. jigv having insert positioning means, with the"hole in registration with said positioning means, placing an insert on the opposite surface of the cavity plate, with the aid of said positioning means locating the insert with respect to the hole so thatith'e' insert bridges the hole, placing: a preformnpon the portion of the insert between the edges of the hole, placing a plate: assembly on top of the cavity plate soas to press 'against the preform and thereby force the lateral extensions'of the insert against the surface of thecavity plate; locking the plate assembly to the cavity plate, inverting the locked plate 'assembly' and cavity plate to expose the other end of the through hole, placing a preform in said other end, placing said inverted locked plate assembly, cavity plate, preforms and insert on the platen of a;v molding press, moving the two platens of said press together, heating said p'reforms. so as to cause the same to flow and fill the-hole,- moving said'platens apart, unlocking and: removing said-plate assembly from said cavity plate; and;stripping: the plastic object with the laterally extending insert from the cavity plate.

2; In a pro'cessof molding. plastic objects having laterally extending inserts, that improvement which comprises. the steps of disposing a cavity plate; having a through hole on a jig having insert positioning means with said positioning means extending; into-said hole through one open end thereof, dispfo'sing. an. insert on the cavity plate at the opposite end of said hole With a portion: of the insert within said hole, locating said insert in said hole with the aid of said positioning means, clamping said. insert against said: cavity plate in. its located position, removing said: positioningmeans from said hole, closing both ends? of saidhole, and: molding plastic material around. saidinsert in said hole.

3. In a process of'rnolding plastic objects having laterally extending inserts, that improvement which comprises the steps. of disposing a cavity plate having" athrough hole on a jig having insert positioning means with said positioning means extending intosaid hole through one open end thereoi'disposing an insert on the cavity plate at the opposite open end of said hole with a portion of the insert within said hole, locating said insert in said hole with the aid of said positioning means, placing a plasticizable preform on top of said insert, clamping said preform and insert against said cavity plate with said insert in its located position, removing said po sitioning means from said hole, closing both ends of said hole, and plasticizing said preform whereby to mold plastic material around the insert in drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and said hole.

4. In a process of molding plastic objects having laterally extending inserts, that improvement which comprises the steps of disposing an insert on top ,of a cavity plate having a through hole with a portion of the insert in registry with said hole, placing a preform on top of the insert, placing a second plate on top of the cavity plate so as to clamp the insert and preform to the cavity plate, detachably securing the second plate to the cavity plate to form a molding unit, inverting the unit, placing a preform in the hole on the other side of the cavity plate, placing the inverted unit with preforms and insert on a platen of a molding press, and moving the platens of said press together so that the other platen of the press forms a surface of the molding cavity.

5. In a process of molding plastic objects having laterally extending inserts, that improvement comprising the steps of disposing an insert over one open end of a through hole in a cavity plate with a central portion only of the insert registered with said hole and the sides of the insert extending over both sides of the hole, placing a preform on top of said insert, placing a plate on said cavity plate over said open end so as to clamp the insert and preform to the cavity plate, placing a preform in the other open end of said hole, closing the other end of said hole, and plasticizing said preform whereby to mold plastic material around the insert in said hole.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein the positioning means comprises a pair of spaced fingers. i

7. An apparatus for molding a plastic object having an insert with lateral extensions projecting from opposite sides of the object, said apparatus comprising a cavity plate having a through hole, a jig having insert positioning means adapted to project into the hole from one side of the plate so as to locate the insert in the hole when the insert is disposed on the opposite side of the plate and bridges the hole, means located on said other side of the plate to hold the insert in such position whereby the positioning means may be withdrawn without disturbing the holding means, and cooperating locating means associated with said plate and jig to dispose said positioning means in predetermined position within said hole when the plate and jig are juxtaposed.

8. An apparatus for molding a plurality of plastic objects, said apparatus comprising a hollow polygonal frame, a plurality of elongated cavity bars, each having a plurality of through mold cavities therein of the shape of the object to be molded, said bars being disposed-in parallel spaced relationshlpand each bar having the ends thereof located at opposed sides of the frame, interconnecting means to rigidly secure said ends of the bar on said sides of the frame, and means to cap all of the cavities so as to close the same for molding, said capping means including another hollow polygonal frame, a plurality of elongated capping bars having their ends located at opposed sides of the second frame,

and interconnecting means to rigidly secure said ends of the bar on said sides of the second frame, said capping bars being disposed lna relative relationship matching that of the cavity bars.

9. An apparatus for molding a plurality of plastic objects, said apparatus comprising a hollow polygonal frame, a plurality of elongated cavity bars, each having a plurality of through mold cavities therein of the shape of the object to be molded, said bars being disposed in parallel spaced relationship and each bar having the ends thereof located at opposed sides of the frame, interconnecting means to rigidly secure said ends of the bar on said sides of the frame, and means to cap all of the cavities so as to close the same for molding, said capping means including another hollow polygonal frame, a plurality of elongated capping bars having their ends located at opposed sides of the second frame, and interconnecting means to rigidly secure said ends of the bar on said sides of the second frame, said capping bars being disposed in a relative relationship matching that of the cavity bars, the sides of both said frames to which the bars are secured comprising a light metal structural element.

CARL W. OTIS.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 587,117 Eastabrook July 27, 1897 607,152 Wiman July 12, 1898 767,872 Davies Aug. 16, 1904 837,757 Treleaven Dec. 4, 1906 1,209,353 Terkelsen Dec. 19, 1916 1,284,553 Apple Nov, 12, 1918 1,494,723 Tucker et al. May 20, 1924 1,547,399 Kaufmann et al. July 28, 1925 1 1,681,713 Thurlow Aug. 21, 1928 1,913,473 Bremecke June 13, 1933 1,972,411 Swartz et a1 Sept. 4, 1934 1,973,117 Sklar Sept. 11, 1934 2,064,971 Edison, Jr Dec. 22, 1936 2,153,087 Knapp Apr. 4, 1939 2,166,205 Anderson et a1. July 18, 1939 2,176,604 Benkelman Oct. 17, 1939 2,193,242 Smith Mar. 12, 1940 2,200,634 OKoomian May 14, 1940 2,256,769 Amrine Sept. 23, 1941 2,293,789 Abbott Aug, 25, 1942 2,351,713

Sayre June 20, 1944 

